ryanpatricksmom

Georgia is a sweetie, you'll love her.  High energy, but not over the top.  Lee's personality isn't exactly my thing,  but he does a great job keeping the Fun Squad motivated and definitely seems to be invested in his position.

We've done the Chef's Table four times I think.  It has become increasingly less appealing for us.  The wine (and yes, we do have Cheers on us included in our bookings) has been mediocre at best....and they haven't kept the glasses filled for our last two experiences.  The courses have been made up of offerings less costly, think no more wagyu, less expensive fish.

We were already pretty much done with the idea, but at $150, I would have to hear some really raving reviews.

We've done the Remi brunch and dinner on Disney with the wine pairings, and that was a one and done for us.  Way too expensive, although more of a foodie and wine experience than Carnival offers. 

On 11/28/2023 at 10:57 AM, StephPS79 said:

 

 

I think the Facebook posts have been passive aggressive too.  Here's a hot take:  He wanted the Cruise Fleet Director position, but was passed for Chris Williams.  Probably had a bad day or something rubbed the wrong way and he said Peace Out, Bees.  

It's funny because I had that exact same thought.  

We sailed with him a few months ago; where we attended the Q&A for a bit because it was held prior to the Jackpot Bingo.  I thought that he was a great cruise director, although that's been an increasingly low bar to exceed, imo.  He was very upfront about his aspirations for the future (which was not to be a CD), and he also was the only the CD that ever addressed a question regarding the CD compensation, which has typically been a topic they've been instructed to avoid.  I do think that something happened to cause the dismissal/resignation, but the details will likely never be publicized, nor should they be.

His postings on Facebook and Instagram have been a bit passive aggressive, so I'm inclined to think that he was confronted by management for something, and had a gut reaction, but as I said, we'll never know unless someone talks out of school.

I won't take an offer with DOU in the casino.  It's a wasted perk.  Every drink ends up costing $50 because you either spend so much money actively playing while waiting for a drink, or you sit at the machine and other patrons are infuriated because you're not actively playing.

Can the dogs actually detect CBD in all forms?  Actual cannabis edibles with THC, I get that, but CBD (unless they are full spectrum with traces of THC possibly), I'm shocked that they can detect anything.  Also, where do you need a prescription to buy CBD products anymore?  I live in one of the most conservative states in the country, and you can buy CBD products in the grocery stores, LOL.   I understand that it's the Carnival rule, and that CBD isn't legal in every country, so I'm not arguing that point, but I'm genuinely shocked that a drug dog can be trained to sniff out all products containing CBD.  It makes me wonder if there was another reason that she was singled out.

Edited to add:  Just saw where they were doing a search due to her carry-on containing nail clippers.  Maybe the title of the thread should be Leave Your Nail Clippers at Home, LOL!

13 hours ago, stobe1 said:

Yeah and a non-Italian captain!?!?! The blasphemy! Lol. Our captain on Miracle back in June was not Italian either. His name was Pero something-another eastern European. Too many consonants and not enough vowels in his last name.

He was definitely raised in Italy!  It's actually quite surprising once he starts to speak because he has an Irish father and an Italian mother, so his name does not sound Italian, and I think that he probably favors his father's side of the family in appearance.

The tendering situation in Greenland was already a huge problem (we never got our turn and missed the first port).  We had incredibly smooth seas and even that was a logistical nightmare to get passengers to land.  Couple that with trying to navigate a ship around dozens of icebergs in tough conditions, I'm sure that it's the best decision for all concerned.

Our experience was that if you didn't book a shore excursion, there was very little to see, and since most involved helicopters or small boats, they were probably going to be canceled anyway.

I'm sorry that you guys won't be able to at least see the island from a distance.  That and the starry skies were the best part, imo.

Typically I've found that they have lines marked with arrival times, and the expectation is that you join that line.  They have been pretty diligent about holding everyone in those lines until they've finished with the earlier boarding groups.  I've only gotten the diamond treatment once it's been our turn to enter.  Having said that I've only arrived early twice....in San Francisco where I did wait for my turn, and in Port Canaveral, where I was asked to wait a bit while they cleared up the congestion in the terminal.  Our next cruise is a Journeys cruise out of Baltimore, so that's going to be a PITA because checkout at our hotel across the street is noon, and our boarding slot is 1pm (which I think is the earliest).

13 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

Sept 10, Dover to Rome. 

Me too!  Also the Mediterranean cruise after that!

We do it on longer cruises when we have a lot more free time onboard.  I enjoy it more than DH.  He likes the food for the most part, but isn't a wine drinker, and usually has to leave after about 1 1/2 hours because he has Parkinson's Disease and there's a bunch of sitting involved.  Last time he missed the beef course and dessert, which would have been his favorite.  We have two booked for upcoming cruises, once on the Legend when we do a 2 week sailing to Greenland (7 sea days with a lot of time to kill), and once on the Pride when we do a B2B in Europe for 19 days total.  I may cancel the Pride dinner if they are serving the same menu as they do on the Legend.

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

It certainly did not end the way we wanted (who would want that), but we loved it.  Cannot say it enough.  Europe is hopping, lots of people EVERYWHERE.

 

Next up for us is the Legend out of Baltimore to Greenland in September.  Hope it can match this one.  Another bucket list cruise (and more to follow…).  

 

Adios for now….

Funny, our next trip is in reverse order of yours. We're getting ready to do a B2B on the Pride in September.  Our ports are Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey, and Greece.  We had already done a cruise from Copenhagen a few years ago, so we've seen most of that area of the world, though we will also be starting our trip in London and Dover.  We have the Greenland sailing in August just before we fly across the pond.  You mentioned that you had some issues with your room at the Best Western.  We'll be staying there too.  Can you give a little bit more detail regarding the problem that you encountered?  Thanks!

On 7/11/2023 at 11:23 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

I'm demented, but I find it slightly amusing that a Carnival Corp. ship would have Disney trivia when Disney has their own ships with their own trivia sessions.  I wonder if they ask about Carnival there?  Probably not.  🙃

I'm here to tell you that they do not! 😁 We did a b2b Disney cruise last year, and the trivia got really old, really quick!  Even the adult trivia was all Disney based.  I love Disney, but I'm here to tell you, that after 2 weeks of "What color was Ariel's petticoat when she had legs?"  and minutiae of the like, was a little much! LOL!

Many of the "correct" answers are so out of date that it's absurd, especially for the sports trivia.  DH and I win a lot because we have heard the same trivia about a thousand times at this point because they don't switch them up enough.  Some of the answers are just wrong and always were. During one trivia they asked which president was the oldest to be sworn in.  The answer the host had was Trump.  Obviously that's not current, but the truth is that it wasn't Trump ever.  Reagan served two terms, and thus was sworn in twice, the second time he was older than Trump was when sworn in once.  I wasn't about to spend cruise time arguing, but I have no idea where they come up the information sometimes🙄. We still play just  to see if we're still capable of absorbing and retaining information, LOL!  If we win we always give the prize to the next closest winner, or a kid that's either participating or walking by.  

Interestingly enough when the dogs catch a whiff, they will lay down in front of the person and/or their bag and refuse to move.  They don't get excited and keep sniffing if they detect drugs.   I saw the dogs get a bit exuberant with a couple of people on our last cruise, so I asked the security guys, inquiring minds want to know, LOL!  It could be any number of things that they are reacting to, but it isn't drugs.

DH does it all the time.  I have 2 thermal mugs that fit underneath the coffee dispenser so that he can grab coffee and come back with it without spilling all over the place, LOL!  On most ships Java Blue doesn't open until 7am, which is our preferred Cheers! coffee spot, so hubby has at least one cup from the Lido before they start serving.

We live near Charleston and have done a Sunshine B2B for the 5 day.  It didn't really seem any different to us than when we've done a 10 day Journeys cruise from Charleston.   It's such a PITA to sail out of Charleston (park, shuttle, check-in, shuttle), that I don't think that it lends itself to a party atmosphere.  I would think that the party crowd would rather have a much more streamlined experience, LOL!  There's a silent sailaway and a silent debarkation because the neighbors object to being disturbed nor do they welcome the existence of cruise ships in Charleston, which is largely why Carnival won't be sailing from there when their contract is up. 

I've sailed on her 20 times, so I guess I like her just fine, LOL!  Seriously though, we had a house on the Chesapeake before we retired so we often hopped on whenever we had free time.  We are getting ready to do a B2B on the Pride in September from Dover and then Rome.  I've sailed all of the other Spirit Class ships, and I do think that they are my favorite, although admittedly, they are showing their age.  I find them to be the perfect size, a nice setup for walking in the morning, and I don't miss the dining options that are offered on the other classes at all.  The one thing that is a bit troubling for me is that the trivia and what not takes place near the java blue cafe, and it's entirely too small....especially because we will be sailing on the Legend soon and we have 7 sea days on our Greenland/Canadian itinerary out of Baltimore (visiting the kiddos).

We just recently had the new menu.  It was at 11am, and what I would consider an early lunch rather than a brunch.  It definitely was the best crab cake that I've ever had on a ship!  The pasta was also outstanding, and the new dessert selection made me very happy because I'm not a chocolate person.

We've sailed with Carnival numerous times, Disney twice, and NCL several times since the restart.  I can't speak to Disney's changes because my only cruise with them prior was so many years ago that it wouldn't be relevant.  Both NCL and Carnival are still struggling a bit with staffing.  Many of the employees have been asked to shorten their vacations because they can't fill some of the openings.  I have noticed a decline in the quality of the food available onboard, with the exception of the NCL Haven experience which is pretty much the same. It takes longer to get a drink, the seaday brunch on Carnival is not as enticing as it used to me, some of the fast food type lunch options aren't as tasty as they once were.  I do think that some of the theatre entertainment has improved.  I've also noticed that Carnival in particular seems to be marketing to first time cruisers, so your fellow passengers aren't up to speed on the ins and outs of cruising, which can also diminish the experience....think logjams where you normally wouldn't see them, longer lines at guest services,  encroaching on others'  space, etc....but they'll get there, we all started without knowing the basics.

I thought that it was meh.  Having said that, on a ship that often feels overcrowded (as the Mardi Gras does to me), it's worth the extra $$ to get a bit more breathing space, LOL!  We did eat outside....we received the reminder voicemail and completely misunderstood what the heavily accented gentleman said regarding shorts, so DH showed up dressed improperly.  Oops!

12 hours ago, kona_wahine said:

The Dream deck 5 is like that. One of my fav features. 

I had forgotten about the Dream promenade. I haven't sailed her, but  I have sailed the Breeze and the Magic and I believe that they had it as well.  I need to keep that it mine when we're booking going forward.  Thanks for reminding me!

I wish that they would have a full loop that extends around the promenade decks on Carnival ships.  One of my favorite features on Disney  is that you have access to walk around the entire ship on the promenade deck.  It's a pain in the neck to walk on the upper decks when it gets crowded.  There used to be a way to walk around the Sunshine on the promenade when she was the Destiny but I don't think that you can even do that any longer.

We spoke on our last Mardi Gras cruise in September.  He said that he was getting ready to give up being a CD because of the toll that it takes, and that he had reached an age where it was too much.  I'm happy that he found a new position within Carnival.

3 hours ago, ferfoodle said:

Just sailed on the Spirit in February and had fun play credits as well as drinks anywhere on the ship. The fun play credits were not handed in cash. They were downloaded on to the slot machines per usual with fun play credits. It was nice to have the free drinks everywhere too. Wish they would bring back that offer again.

Bummer.  Last sailing on the Miracle in July we were handed cash.  I'm holding out for an offer that has free drinks everywhere!